Brotherly Love
by Reign of Rayne
Summary: A week of Ace and Luffy's shenanigans. Including, but not limited to: fire, spiders, burning spiders, boars, burning boars, and general mayhem. Really, the Goa Kingdom was not ready for those two. Oneshot.


_**Warning** : Lots of swearing. Like, lots. In some parts more than others._

* * *

 **Sunday**

* * *

"AAAACEEEEEE!"

Portgas D. Ace glanced around, momentarily halting his training and relaxing his grip on the metal pipe he held in one hand. He recognized that voice; it would be difficult not to, since Ace rarely let the owner out of his sight. Today had been the exception; Luffy wanted to go exploring on his own and Ace had said yes as long as he didn't get into too much trouble.

"What is it, Luffy?" Ace called, resting his pipe over one shoulder. His brother had probably found a giant monster or something equally bad. At least he was alive. "Did you find something?"

"Yeah!" Luffy declared as he tumbled through the underbrush, his twelve-year-old rubber body eventually coming to a stop when it hit Ace's foot. Or, more accurately, when Ace stomped on it.

"Watch where you're rolling, moron," Ace chided, shoving Luffy away with his foot. "Now what did you find?"

Luffy got up, a grin firmly in place that made the past few seconds seem like they hadn't happened at all. A feeling of dread rose in Ace's stomach, but he pushed it aside. What was the worst that could happen if he just listened to Luffy?

"There was this _huuuuuge_ cave!"

"A cave?" Ace repeated skeptically. "We've explored most of the caves on the island already. You sure there's actually somethin' interesting in it?"

"Yup! There were a buncha animals around the entrance, too, so I bet there's treasure inside!"

"Just 'cause there're monsters doesn't mean there's gonna be treasure."

"Let's go!"

Ace grinned. "Fine. Just remember, we have to get dinner tonight, so this'd better not take too long or Dadan is gonna get mad."

Luffy's grin became mischievous. "That old hag'll be fine!"

* * *

"You weren't kidding about the animals," Ace commented from behind the bushes. He and Luffy were hidden behind them, peering between the leaves at the small entrance to the cave. It was impressive that Luffy had seen it at all, though the kid had a penchant for discovering things that most people wouldn't notice.

There were several mean-looking boards milling around out front, probably because of the water source in the form of a small stream running through the trees nearby. Two of the beasts bumped heads and got into a short brawl, which the bigger and uglier one won handily. It was clearly the leader of the group and had numerous scars decorating its furred body.

"That one's mine," Ace said, grinning in anticipation. "You got that, Luffy?"

There was no response. Ace looked at where Luffy had been crouching mere seconds ago and found nothing but empty space. The boy returned his gaze to the boars and saw his idiot kid brother leaping at them with his pole well on its way to braining the nearest animal.

Ace frowned. "Don't steal all the fun!"

"You were too slow!"

Ace gave up on being annoyed, grinned savagely, and joined Luffy in the fighting. They made short work of most of the boars, leaving only the leader, which had been looking more and more enraged with each passing minute.

"He looks mean," Luffy commented, shifting his stance. He was still grinning.

"What, you scared or something?" Ace taunted, a matching expression on his face.

"Of course not! I'm excited!"

The boar lost its patience, fed up with the two brothers' casual conversation, and charged, its tusks aimed squarely at Luffy's chest. The smaller boy waited until the last second to jump out of the way and then spun in mid air, bringing his pipe down hard on the boar's head. While the creature staggered, dazed, Ace jumped in and bashed the beast several times in the same place as Luffy.

Impressively, the boar remained standing, though it was clearly dizzy and it staggered when it moved. The two brothers needed only to exchange a glance before they were off, with Ace leaping into the air to knock the boar down before Luffy wound his arm back, calling out his signature punching attack.

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

The rubber fist connected squarely with the boar and sent it flying into the wall next to the cave. It slid down the rock face, out for the count.

"Huh. You actually managed to hit it."

Luffy pouted, though even he looked a little surprised. "Of course I did! I'm a lot better than I used to be!"

"I remember when you just punched yourself when you did that!"

"That was a long time ago! Now are we gonna explore this cave or not?"

"'Course."

Ace led the way with Luffy only a step behind, both of them holding their pipes up in case of an attack.

"Ace," Luffy whispered in a very loud voice. "I can't see anything."

"And now I can't hear anything," Ace muttered. "Yeah, you're right. We're gonna need torches."

It took them almost an hour to . . . _procure_ the necessary supplies for the torches, and soon they were back at the cave with torches in hand. They quickly lit them and jogged back into the cave, the new light illuminating the rocky walls and floor. The ceiling was only barley high enough for the two to walk without bending, and two full-grown men would not be able to walk abreast.

"Ace."

"Hm?"

"It's really quiet."

"It was before you started talking. Just stay quiet, Luffy; I think I hear something."

"Really? What?"

"I won't know until you shut up."

"Oh." For a second, the only sound was of the crackling of torches and the two boys' footsteps. Of course, that peace lasted less than half a minute. "So what do you hear?"

"I don't _know_ , Luffy. I'm trying to figure it out."

"Figure it out faster!"

"That's not how it works."

"Then how does it work?"

"Well, you shut up for three minutes and I figure out what the hell it is that I'm hearing."

"But not talking is so _boring_!"

Ace briefly entertained the idea of lighting Luffy on fire and then decided against it. The idiot was rubber; it would smell terrible and Ace would never get it out of his clothes. That, and he was his brother. Ace wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to hurt Luffy. Sabo would be disappointed in him if he did it anyway. He'd always been soft.

As though sensing Ace's darkening thoughts, Luffy fell silent, allowing Ace to listen in on his surroundings.

The noise he kept hearing was strange. It sounded like a hundred pinging footsteps all at once skittering across rock, gradually increasing in volume as the source undoubtedly got closer.

What was it?

"Ace," Luffy said quietly. Ace ignored him. "Ace." His tone was getting more urgent. " _Ace_."

"What?" Ace finally snapped, his rather limited patience running out. He was surprised to see a bit of confusion in his brother's eyes (besides the general confusion at the complexity of the world). "Luffy?"

"Something just ran over my foot." He paused, trying to bring his torch down only to stop when he nearly ignited his clothes. "Now it's on my leg. I can't see it."

"Stay still," commanded Ace, leaning down and carefully bringing his torch forward to better illuminate Luffy's legs. Doing so also lit up the ground.

The seething, spider-covered ground.

Ace would never admit it, but in that moment he screamed at quite the high pitch. Had Luffy not done the exact same thing, he probably would have made fun of Ace for it for the rest of his life. As it happened, both boys panicked and fled the cave at more than quadruple the pace that they entered it at. At some point during their escape Luffy started laughing, his fear gone. Ace's torch cast flickering and frantic shadows on the walls until blessed daylight washed over the pair. They kept running, however, with Ace smothering his torch before running up a convenient tree. Luffy hesitated before throwing up one rubber arm, latching onto the same branch Ace climbed to and pulling himself up. He almost overshot it but Ace grabbed him.

"Thanks," Luffy said. Ace just grunted, his attention focused on the mouth of the cave. He could just barely pick out movement. There were things lurking in the shadows. Dark, creepy, crawly _things_.

After a few more seconds of observation, something clicked in Ace's brain. "Luffy, what happened to your torch?"

"Uh . . . I dropped it?"

"When?" Ace asked urgently.

"In the cave?"

"Why?"

"I don't know?"

"Why are you answering all of my questions with questions?!"

"I don't know!"

In the midst of their argument, Ace and Luffy became aware that the skittering creatures were now moving much more quickly than they had been before. They were almost frantic. Ace paused in the action of drilling one fist into Luffy's skull in favor of watching.

"What's going on?" Luffy asked, leaning so far forward that Ace was half-expecting him to fall off.

"How the hell would I know? They're probably freaking out about how you dropped your torch in there or something."

"Hm . . . do you think they're flammable?"

A sudden whoosh of heat exploded from the mouth of the cave, blowing back the boys' hair and threatening to topple them from their perch. Flames, which rapidly consumed the mouth of the cave and came far too close to the grass that lay outside the opening, closely followed the rush of heat.

"Shit!" Ace cursed, hopping down and scraping his hands on the rough tree bark. "We need to stop that fire from hitting the forest or we'll be screwed!"

For once, Luffy realized the gravity of the situation—they were both remembering the incident at the Gray Terminal all those years ago and neither had been comfortable around large quantities of fire since—and he joined Ace in attempting to beat back the flames. After a minute, Ace grit his teeth and let loose a stream of curses that Luffy hadn't heard him speak since he nearly got eaten by a particularly voracious alligator.

"Ace?"

"This isn't working. Luffy, is there anything you can do to smother the flames?" Ace cast his eyes around and noticed the prone bodies of two of the smaller boars. "Actually, I've got an idea."

A minute later, Luffy glanced at his hands. "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Well, all we need to do is deprive the flames of fuel," Ace reasoned. "There's nothing to burn in that cave besides those spiders and it looks like they burn out pretty quickly; look, the ones closest to us are already burning down. So, if you just do what I told you, all the burning stuff should go back in the cave and burn to nothing. And things won't go to hell."

"But are you _sure_?"

"Yes, Luffy, now do what I told you!"

Luffy stuck his tongue out his tongue at Ace—making the latter twitch in irritation—before turning to face the cave. He struggled to bring his hands up, eventually managing it as his face reddened from effort.

"Come on, Luffy," Ace urged, feeling a creeping anxiety build in his chest at the sight of the flames growing ever closer to the grass. If that grass went up in flames, then the forest would burn, and, to put it scientifically, shit would get real. "Hurry up!"

Luffy didn't reply and slowly brought his arms back, adjusting his stance in the process. "Gum Gum . . ." He began to bring his fists forward, at first slowly and then building speed and power as his rubber arms snapped back and forth like bands, "Gatling!"

The two smaller boars that Luffy was gripping in his stretched out hands were unconscious, which was the only reason they weren't squealing in pain as Luffy pounded them against the flaming spiders in the cave, knocking them deeper into the opening in the earth. Ace watched with slowly rising eyebrows as Luffy actually managed to beat back the flames with his boar-shielded hands. It was impressive to watch.

After almost a minute of frantic punching, Luffy suddenly collapsed, losing his grip on the boars and falling onto his stomach. Ignoring him—he was probably fine—Ace checked on the inside of the cave, grinning when he saw that, though there were some bits still burning, the vast majority of the flames had been put out successfully.

"Nice job," Ace said, turning back to face his brother. "You actually put out the fire."

"Can't . . . feel . . . my arms . . ."

"Oh, shut up. You're fine." Ace suddenly noticed a minor detail. "Oh, shit! The boars're on fire! Quick, Luffy, put them out!"

"I can't . . . move . . . so tired . . . meat . . ."

Ace grit his teeth and rushed to his brother, quickly pulling him away from the burning animals before grabbing his pipe and putting the boars out of their misery. Then, after a minute of contemplation, he grabbed the bigger of the two and hoisted it on his back before also grabbing Luffy. Since the younger boy couldn't move, Ace was limited to just carrying the one boar, which was now already partially cooked, and his exhausted kid brother.

"Honestly, you're pathetic," Ace grumbled. "Can't even punch a fire out."

"I didn't see you doin it," Luffy slurred. "'M hungry. Gimme meat"

"We're almost to Dadan's. Relax."

"Meeaat."

"Luffy. Wait for like two more minutes. And walk on your own, dammit!"

"I can't. My arms won't move."

"What does that have to do with your legs?"

"I'm hungry."

"Stop avoiding the question!"

A rustling off to the side of the path stopped Ace from just dumping Luffy on the ground. His senses on high alert, Ace looked around, searching for the source of the noise. The boy found the offending bush and reached for his pipe. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. Little more than a blur of motion, a smaller tiger leaped out of the underbrush, snatched the partially-cooked boar from Ace's shoulders and leaped out of range before Ace could fully grip his metal staff.

"Hey! Give that back!" Ace shouted, taking two steps in the direction of the tiger before remembering that his brother was lying nearby and was currently completely helpless. Gritting his teeth in irritation at the entire situation, Ace let out a frustrated sigh and walked back to Luffy, roughly picking him up and throwing him over one shoulder.

"Ace, where's the meat?" Luffy whined. "I'm hungry!"

"It's not here anymore," Ace replied shortly.

"Where did it go?"

"I don't know."

"Why'd you lose it?"

"Because."

Luffy didn't fail to notice how Ace's answers were getting shorter and shorter, and after pouting for a minute and muttering a few more complaints, Luffy went quiet.

When Dadan and some of the other bandits asked where the food was, Ace gave them such empty looks that they backed of instantly, reminded of the times from earlier in Ace's childhood when he had come home with an expression like that every day and beaten up anyone who annoyed him too much.

Though the bandits did not see it, Ace put the now sleeping Luffy in his pile of blankets and made sure that his younger brother wasn't really injured before tucking him in and going to sleep himself, one hand laid protectively over his vulnerable kid brother.

* * *

 **Monday**

* * *

"Oh my god, Luffy, no. No you can't. I don't even know what you're talking about but no."

"Aw, but I—"

"The last time you suggested something—yesterday, actually—we nearly set the forest on fire so I'm a _little_ bit against trusting you again."

"Ace!"

"Don't complain!"

"I'm not complainin', I'm just really, really, really, reeaaally bored!"

Fifteen-year-old Ace ground his teeth, resolving that he was going to kill Luffy one of these days. Then again, he'd been making that same promise to himself for years now, but it was always empty. He was Luffy's older brother; as annoying and thick skulled as the kid could be, Luffy was a lovable little idiot.

"Aaaaaaceeee! Stop ignoring me!"

Then again, sometimes he wasn't.

"I'm not ignoring you, dumbass! I'm thinking!"

"Don't do that, it hurts!"

"Only because you're an idiot!"

"So?"

Ace rubbed his forehead. "Look, I get that you want to go play hide-and-seek in Edge Town, but we promised Dadan that we would get food today. We couldn't yesterday because we were busy putting out that fire of yours, remember?"

Luffy pouted childishly, putting one hand to his stomach. "I'm hungry."

It took all of Ace's willpower not to punch Luffy. "That's because you almost set the goddamn forest on _fire_ and we couldn't get food!"

"It was an accident!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't go running around with torches!"

"But _you_ gave it to me!"

"You were asking for it!"

"Because I was bored!"

"You _always_ do stupid stuff when you're bored!" Ace declared, throwing his hands up in exasperation, though the grin tugging at his lips belied his frustrated words. Luffy was grinning as well, unfazed by Ace's yells.

"Hey, Ace?"

"What is it, Luffy?"

"Can we have crocodile for dinner?"

"As long as you don't fall in the water again."

"I haven't done that in a whole month and it only happened last time because I tripped!"

"Actually, I pushed you," Ace muttered under his breath.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Crocodile sounds good, anyway."

"Oh, and Ace?"

The older boy sighed. "What?"

"Can we play hide-and-seek tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Maybe. The guards are still angry at us for dining and dashing a few days ago."

"They'll get over it. We apologized, didn't we?"

Ace laughed. "We did! All right, Luffy, we'll do that tomorrow!"

* * *

 **Tuesday**

* * *

Sneaking through the forest hadn't been a problem.

Sneaking through the Gray Terminal hadn't been a problem.

Sneaking into Edge Town hadn't been a problem.

Estimating the proper amount of provisions necessary for their mission _had_ been a problem.

"Ace!" Luffy whispered at a volume level that was nowhere near a whisper. "I'm hungry! Let's have breakfast!"

"We just had breakfast!" Ace hissed back, adjusting the strap of the backpack slung over one shoulder that was reminiscent of a watermelon. He'd picked it up from the Gray Terminal at some point and had taken a liking to the design. Luffy also had a backpack, though as opposed to being filled with food like Ace's, his was nearly empty.

It was not common knowledge, but Ace and Luffy shared a very similar appetite. Ace, unlike Luffy, exercised a certain degree of restraint. He _knew_ when to eat. Luffy, on the other hand, ate whenever and wherever possible.

And that desire to eat had landed them in their current predicament. Currently, the two delinquents were crouched in an alley very near the wall that cut off High Town from Edge Town. The guards looked to be especially wary today; no doubt the time without Luffy or Ace-related mischief was making them nervous. It was understandable, really, and Ace got quite a bit of amusement out of occasionally leaving High Town alone for a week only to completely terrorize it for a month straight.

He was pretty sure that they still hadn't gotten most of the graffiti. It was their fault for having paint handy. And Ace had always been a fast artist.

"Aceeeeeeee!"

"Luffy, it's your own fault for eating all your food. Just wait for an hour and then we'll get lunch."

"What about after-breakfast snacks?"

"Not today."

"Pre-lunch snacks?"

"No."

"Aw."

"Hey, what're two kids like you doin' here?"

Ace glanced up, noting the small gang of punks that had surrounded them. "Hm?"

"Your packs look pretty full," the punk continued, smiling and revealing his disgusting teeth. "You should let us take them off your hands."

"I'm telling you, Luffy, just wait five more minutes! Then we'll eat!"

"Hey! Are you ignoring me?!"

Both Ace and Luffy glanced at the would-be mugger group, fingers in their noses and completely disinterested expressions on their faces. They spoke in unison as they flicked their boogers away. "So what if we are?"

The punk's eyebrow twitched and he brought one club-holding hand up.

"W-wait!" Another boy said, putting a hand on the leader's arm to stop him. "I recognize those kids, John! Those're Ace and Luffy!"

The newly named John froze, his eyes widening. "A-A-Ace? L-Luffy? You don't mean—"

Ace's uncaring expression morphed into a wicked grin that sent chills down the spines of all those present save Luffy. "Oh, he does. Luffy!"

The younger boy's expression changed as well into a charming smile that would have been cute had it not been for the way he balled his hands into fists and then buried them in the nearest boy's stomach. Ace, not to be outdone, jumped up and brained two of the remaining four thugs in one blow before taking out another one on the way down. Luffy dealt with the last one through a hard kick to the crotch—the easiest target for the shorter boy to reach (he was going to get his growth spurt soon, dammit!).

"Shit," the thug squeaked, his face turning a hilarious shade of blue before he collapsed on the ground.

Ace sighed, propping his staff on one shoulder while he surveyed the group of unconscious and semiconscious wannabe punks. "Well, that was stupid."

"You think they've got any food?" Luffy asked, already rooting through their pockets.

"I doubt it. They wanted to steal from us, after all." Ace eyed them, scowling. "Idiots. Didn't even know who they were fighting."

"They're definitely idiots," Luffy agreed blithely, still searching in vain for food. Ace, realizing that his kid brother wasn't going to give up the search, sighed.

"Luffy, you said you wanted to play hide-and-seek in High Town, right?"

"Yup."

"I have an idea."

The fire dancing in Ace's eyes would have made even the most experienced of law enforcement personnel flee in terror.

It took fewer than three minutes for Ace to set his plan in motion and by the time he considered it carried out, he and Luffy had no less than ten merchants on their tail, closely followed and occasionally surpassed by what had to be half the police force of the Goa Kingdom.

Luffy was laughing like a madman, only pausing to breathe and stuff his face with liberated goods that the merchants hadn't realized they were giving away for free. Their loss, Ace reasoned. He'd managed to grab some tasty cake-like food and a few delicious kebabs, so he was happy. He also still had the lunch he'd packed that morning, which meant that he would be fine on the food front for quite some time. Luffy, insatiable black hole that he was, would be fine for the next hour or so. But still, that was an hour or so of peace for Ace.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU THIEVING HOOLIGANS!"

Relative peace.

Ace and Luffy exchanged a look. They were far enough ahead at this point, so that they both abruptly stopped running, turned, and gave a quick bow. "Thank you for the food!" They chorused before taking off again, the spot where they had been standing filling with police and furious merchants mere moments later.

Luffy was still laughing his head off when he wasn't stuffing his face with food and even Ace had cracked a smile. Even so, he was reminded of the gravity of the situation when more policemen cut off the route they were on.

"Left!" Ace ordered, roughly shoving Luffy into a convenient alley. The duo then travelled the maze of backstreets—all incredibly clean—with enviable speed, having been running through these areas to escape the police for years. "Ready, Luffy?" Ace asked, spotting a convenient barrel. Luffy nodded and they ducked inside the barrel, noting that it contained very nice-looking floral arrangements that were shortly crushed to ugly bits under the brothers' weight. Neither of the two felt even the slightest bit guilty; flowers were flowers. They grew everywhere. Why put them in a barrel, anyway?

Curious, Ace glanced down at the flowers, only to see that a few of them had discolored spots on some of the petals. The family had probably been so ashamed of the imperfection that they hid the flowers. The son of the Pirate King scoffed. Idiots, the lot of 'em.

The pounding of feet nearby caused Ace and Luffy to hunch down farther in the barrel. From the sounds, Ace could tell that the soldiers and police and salespeople were in the alley with them, and there were a lot of them. They were also beyond pissed, apparently.

That just made things more fun. They'd have to move eventually, but it was the hiding and avoiding those bastards that was the real fun. The idea that they couldn't catch two kids bothered them to no end and was a great way for Ace to work off his weekly annoyance from dealing with Luffy. He had a tolerance for the kid, but if he didn't work it off, things would get bad.

"Ace," Luffy whispered.

"What is it? And keep your voice down or they'll hear you."

"I'm still hungry. You promised we'd get food a minute ago."

"There's still time. They're not done searching yet; we'll go then. Otherwise it isn't hide-and-seek, okay?"

"But I'm _hungry_!"

"Shh, you idiot!"

Ace heard voices from outside and cursed mentally.

"Hey, did you hear that?"

"Sounded like voices."

"Where from?"

"Hm . . . that barrel, perhaps? It's the only thing we didn't check."

Realizing that time was running out, Ace glanced at Luffy. "Hey, Luffy, when they open the lid, I need you to do something. You've got a longer reach thanks to your rubber arms, so you're the only one that can do this."

"Will you give me food?"

"Yes."

"Okay! What is it?"

Ace grinned.

Ten seconds later, the policemen had the barrel surrounded. The merchants were standing behind them, ready to catch the boys in case they somehow managed to slip past the ring of soldiers. Behind _them_ was a conveniently passing stream of traffic at the mouth of the alley that Ace and Luffy had stopped in.

In short, there was no possible way that the two infamous delinquent snots could escape the barrel, blow past the policemen, get through the merchants, and escape into the traffic. It was simply inconceivable.

"Go ahead," the head policeman ordered, nodding at his two subordinates that had been forced (ahem, _nominated_ ) to open the barrel. They exchanged looks before walking over to the barrel and putting their hands on the lid.

At the exact moment they shifted their grips, a person suddenly erupted from the barrel, his hands flying out and meeting the policemen's faces with simultaneous resounding _thwacks_ that sent the two flying. The lid of the barrel flew through the air and smashed into the police chief's face, stunning him. He could only watch in numb shock as Ace and Luffy dashed away, laughing like fools. Well, the Luffy kid was laughing. Ace simply had a fire burning in his eyes and a smirk on his face.

Smug brat.

* * *

 **Wednesday**

* * *

"Bye, Dadan!" Luffy called as he and Ace made their usual daily escape. Unfortunately, this time Dadan had been prepared.

"What the—?" Ace grunted, struggling ineffectually against the next that had just launched him into the air and now held them there. "A trap?"

"Ace! I can't get out!" Luffy was confused but not quite panicking. That was good; Luffy only panicked in situations that were really worth it. Or when they were beyond understanding and he hadn't yet thought to peg them as a "mystery". Either way, Luffy had a good sense of when things were actually dangerous. If the way he was pouting was anything to go by, Luffy didn't feel threatened.

Ace sighed, his irritated gaze landing on a very smug-looking Dadan with Dogra standing beside her, clipboard in hand.

"Looks like the traps worked," he noted blandly. "It seems like we can finally get them to do their chores."

Both Ace and Luffy blanched. " _Chores_?" Immediately after, they shook their heads. "Nope. Can't do them."

"O-of course you can, you freeloaders!" Dadan sputtered. "You've been avoiding them since day one!"

"I get food," Ace pointed out. "So does Luffy."

"He's got you there," Dogra muttered.

"Not helping," Dadan shot back. To Ace and Luffy, she said, "Getting the food doesn't make up for six years of missed chores! You need to sweep the house, beat the rugs, clean the windows, and—hey! Are you even listening to me?"

Ace and Luffy were in the middle of a discussion and glanced down at Dadan with unimpressed expressions. "No."

"Why you little brats—" Dadan began, only to stop midway and compose herself, giving the duo a sickeningly sweet smile that looked entirely out of place. "If you two would please just come down and help your dear caretakers, everything will be fine."

"Ace! Dadan's being scary!" Luffy cried, shifting in the net to cling to Ace.

"Get off," Ace growled irritably, trying and failing to shove Luffy away and only entangling them further in the trap.

"If they keep that up they're going to get themselves so stuck we won't be able to get them out," Dogra noted, not sounding entirely too upset. Dadan perked up at that.

"Well, maybe I can stand not having the chores done for another day."

"Then we won't bring you any food, you old hag!" Luffy shouted, only to wince when Ace whacked him on the head.

"Idiot! She's the one that's either gonna keep us up here or let us down! You wait until _after_ we're free to do that!"

"Oh."

"I'm not letting you down until you swear to do today's chores!" Dadan called, feeling confident that the two would realize the situation. Unfortunately, her faith in their moral character—though already incredibly low—was not quite low enough.

"Don't wanna," Luffy said. Ace merely nodded his agreement with his younger brother.

Dadan turned away for a minute, muttering to herself, saying something that sounded suspiciously like, "murder is wrong". Either that, or the woman had some odd ideas for a rather demented cupcake recipe. Dogra, the blood draining out of his face and the only person within earshot, just decided to pretend he couldn't hear anything coming from his boss's mouth.

The leader of the mountain bandits eventually stopped herself and turned back to the boys, her fake-cheerful demeanor gone alongside her patience. "All right, you ungrateful ingrates. You do chores for today, you get dinner, and I won't bug you about chores ever again."

Dogra eyed the crossed fingers held behind Dadan's back and mentally shrugged. Whatever worked against them, really.

"Is there gonna be meat?" Luffy asked suspiciously. Dadan expected Ace to hit his half-brother over the head for the stupid question—they were the ones _getting_ dinner, after all, and had been doing that for years—but somehow Ace had fallen asleep and was now conked out against Luffy's chest.

"Y-yes," Dadan managed, sensing that her moment of victory was near. "There will definitely be meat if you get it." The last bit was added hastily and at a low volume, meaning that Luffy wouldn't register it at all. Dadan had learned the kid's glaring weakness in his hearing very quickly.

"Awesome!" Luffy declared, waking Ace up as he pumped his fist in the air and rocked the net dangerously. "We'll do the chores for today!"

"Wait, Luffy what did you say?" Ace asked, fully awake and now thoroughly confused. "Chores? Are you an idiot?"

Luffy grinned, letting out his signature laugh. "Shishishishi! We're gonna get meat for dinner 'cause we're gonna do chores!"

"Idiot!" Ace snapped, head butting Luffy since his arms were pinned beneath his body by the net and his own weight. "We were going to get dinner anyway like we always do! Now you've made us actually have to do the chores! Stupid!"

Luffy tried in vain to shield himself. "But Ace! I'm hungry!"

"You brats can go get food once you've finished your chores!" Dadan offered, knowing that now that Luffy had accepted, Ace would have no choice but to do it as well. They were practically attached at the hip; Ace wouldn't let Luffy out of his sight for fear that something would happen to the loveable idiot.

Ace let out a long-suffering sigh while closing his eyes in resignation. The expression made him look far older than a fifteen-year-old. "Fine, Dadan, just this once." He rolled his eyes, somehow indicating the elaborate trap with just that one look. "Since you asked so _nicely_."

"I'm a mountain bandit, brat!"

"It took you like ten years to get me to do chores."

Luckily for Ace, Dogra stepped forward and released the trap before Dadan could respond. Judging from the interesting shades of red on the large bandit's face, holding in her reply was physically paining her. After so much time with the two delinquents, however, that was to be expected.

Almost immediately upon landing, Ace found a broom being shoved in his face by an all-too-pleased Dadan. "Get to work."

Ace merely scowled, grabbed the broom, and dragged Luffy to the hideout. Once they were inside, Ace handed Luffy the broom and sat on the floor with his arms crossed and a pensive expression on his face. "Clean," he ordered.

"Why should _I_ clean while you're just sitting there?"

"Because you got us into this situation. Clean."

"I don't wanna!"

Ace opened his eyes, sudden shadows on his face accentuating his dark and threatening look. " _Clean_."

Luffy cleaned. Ace fell asleep.

Dadan had a migraine. "I don't understand those brats sometimes," she said, supervising as her subordinates picked up the last of the rope that had been in used in the plan to trap Ace and Luffy (which had failed almost every day for a year straight, but Dadan wasn't going to admit that, hell no).

"They are young," Dogra supplied.

"They're demons."

"Young demons."

Dadan sighed. "At least they'll be working their due today. I have an army's worth of things for them." Her eyes gleamed. "They won't be done until they have to leave to get dinner. Today is going to be nice."

A sudden crash from the direction of the hideout made Dadan flinch. "What the hell was that?" She demanded.

"I don't know!" A bandit called, rushing back to the building. Dadan flew past him, wanting to know what the hell had just happened.

The sight that greeted her was enough to make the bandit want to quit. She wasn't sure _what_ she was quitting, but she knew she wanted out. This was starting to get—no, it had long since gone past—ridiculous. She was also trying unsuccessfully to ward off an incredible headache that always seemed to form when she was around Ace and Luffy.

First, there was Ace, knocked out in the middle of the floor with a big bump on his head and a shocked expression frozen on his face.

Second, there was the Luffy-shaped hole in the wall behind Ace.

Third, there were the remains of a shattered broom scattered around the floor near the Luffy-shaped hole in the wall.

Dadan, resolving to think about just how much the entire situation sucked _after_ she dealt out appropriate punishment, marched over to the hole in the wall and peered in. Right when she decided that Luffy had probably climbed out and gone exploring or something, the little brat abruptly shot out of the wall with a cry, startling Dadan so badly that she fell backwards.

"Dadan!" Luffy called. "Rubber doesn't go well with cleaning! I don't wanna do any more chores!"

"W-what did you _do_?" One bandit managed to ask. Luffy's expression morphed into a grin.

"Well, I thought that if I used my rubber powers then the cleaning would go faster and Ace fell asleep 'cause he was being a butthead and didn't wanna help me so I started by doing a little Gum Gum Pistol but then the broom came back with my hand—I guess 'cause I was holding it—and hit me in the face and I went flying back and Ace somehow got knocked out and then I was in the wall! Oh, and you need a new broom. The old one sucks."

"Let me get this straight," Dadan said, one hand twitching dangerously. "In the _thirty seconds_ that passed after I sent you to do chores, you managed to not only put a hole in the wall but knock out your brother by running into him and break the broom you were given?!"

"Yup!"

"Get out," Dadan ordered. Luffy tilted his head in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Get out. Go explore the forest. The Gray Terminal. Do whatever you normally do. You don't have to do chores anymore. Ever, actually. Just don't."

"Wow, really? Awesome! Hey, Ace, we don't have to do any more chores!"

The older boy just groaned, though whether it was because of Luffy or just the pain from his head was impossible to tell.

* * *

 **Thursday**

* * *

"Luffy, if you can't even hit me, you might as well not even use your Devil Fruit powers!" To accentuate his words, Ace easily stepped to the side of a rather weak Gum Gum Pistol that bounced rather pathetically off the ground. Luffy set his jaw and pulled his arm back, the limb snapping back into place like the rubber band it was.

"I'll get it!" He promised, winding up his arm again. Ace scoffed and ran forward, dodging another floppy punch and then slamming his pipe into Luffy's side. The younger boy yelped in surprise as he went flying, his rubber body preventing him from taking any real damage from the hit.

"That's another win for me!" Ace declared, jogging over to the chalkboard and putting up another tally by his name. The white mark was nearly invisible, surrounded as it was by other white marks. In contrast, Luffy's side of the board was completely, utterly, depressingly blank, as it had been for almost six years.

Luffy crawled out from under to bush he had flown into and soon jumped to his feet, a challenge blazing in his eyes. "I'm going to beat you!" He declared.

"Don't be stupid. You're not strong enough."

"I'll get stronger! By the time I'm your age I'll be able to beat you up!"

Ace rolled his eyes. "By the time you reach my age, I'll be even older and even stronger. Didn't you think of that?"

Luffy's childishly irritated expression answered that question immediately.

* * *

 **Friday**

* * *

"Ace, I'm hungry!"

"Shh, Luffy, be quiet!"

"But 'm hungry!"

"Once we sell off this fur, I promise we'll get food."

"Promise?"

Ace sighed, adjusting his seated position on Luffy's shoulders. They were disguised as the cloaked man, which they'd only been able to do again recently thanks to the boys' growth spurts. It just wasn't the same without Sabo; Ace felt his loss keenly—Sabo was the first person Ace didn't feel like murdering on sight, after all—but he wasn't so blind as to not notice Luffy's lingering sorrow as well.

"I promise," Ace said. He knew a few restaurants that wouldn't bother to check whether they were nobles or not. Man, they'd really been shut out of anything good in High Town. Unless . . . oh, that would be perfect. He'd do it after lunch. Luffy would be so happy.

Speaking of the kid, he was walking a little too quickly. Ace signaled for him to slow down with their old established system of Ace either bopping Luffy on the head, whispering, or squeezing his legs to get the point across.

It took them only a few minutes to make the sale—and to bargain for a better price, because the bastard was pretty damn cheap—but by the time they were finished Luffy was complaining again. Ace assuaged his brother's prodigious appetite by taking him to a small bar on the nice(r) side of Edge Town.

Since Ace was incredibly hungry as well (not that he'd let Luffy know), he shucked the disguise they usually wore, stuffing it into his backpack before following Luffy, who had picked up on the smell of food and was pursuing it like a bloodhound. The kid could go fast when he was motivated, that was for sure.

"FOOD!" Luffy yelled as he burst into the bar, startling a few of the patrons. Ace caught their shocked expressions as he followed his brother, grinning dangerously when he saw recognition in their eyes. He and Luffy had quite the reputation at this point, though this wasn't their first time at the bar. Sure enough, the bartender just looked weary.

"The usual?" He asked, his way of speaking slow and ponderous and borderline monotonous. It wasn't because he was bored or annoyed; Ace had figured out after a few encounters that it was just how the guy spoke.

"Yup!" Luffy affirmed, all but flying into an open stool at the bar and grabbing a convenient fork and knife before banging them on the countertop. "Food, food, food! Meat!"

"Sorry," Ace said blandly, sliding into the seat next to Luffy. The man to Ace's right twitched and then left a few seconds later, making Ace smirk. Wimp.

"Hmph." The man didn't even seem fazed by them anymore. Not that he had really seemed shocked in the first place. Ace had yet to see the guy crack a smile. Or a frown. Or any facial expression, really. Was he a robot?

Before Ace could continue with that thought, a plate of food found its way in front of him. Luffy was already digging into his portion and Ace knew there was far more on the way so he copied his younger brother and began shoveling food into his mouth, nearly matching the pace of his rubber companion. He was vaguely aware of the horrified looks of the other patrons; they had bad manners too, Ace mused, so why the hell did they care about him and Luffy? Bastards.

Then a particularly delicious piece of meat found its way into Ace's mouth and he decided that he really didn't give a damn about everyone else in the restaurant.

That was, until the door slammed open loud enough to give even Luffy pause. The kid went back to eating instantly, but Ace paused, his senses shrieking a warning. The fifteen-year-old slowed down his eating pace just barely, extending his hearing and focusing on the sound of footsteps approaching the bar.

"Yo! Give me the best thing ya got!"

Arrogant, Ace decided. Arrogant and confident and stupid.

The owner of the stupid voice leaned over the bar where the man had left minutes before. Ace couldn't see too many details out of his peripheral vision but he made out brown hair, a smug smile, and a face that just begged to be punched.

Ace came to the conclusion that the man was an asshole and moved on. Damn, the food was good. No wonder he and Luffy kept coming back. Hell, this was one of the only restaurants that they tried to pay at. Of course, that was only one of every six meals, but it was better than their usual track record.

"I'm sorry. Please look at the sign for the meal choices. This is a bar, not some fancy restaurant." The bartender's gaze was flat; he clearly recognized the man, who at the moment was scoffing.

"C'mon, you incompetent geezer. This is my second time here. Don't you remember what you served me last time?"

"I have many customers. I can't remember them all."

Ace grinned into his food. Oh, the man had a backbone. He was sarcastic, too, even with his flat voice. Ace gave him some mental respect points.

The annoying man sputtered. "Don't remember? Don't remember? That's so stupid! I'm an important guy, you bastard!"

Finished polishing his latest glass, the bartender calmly set it down and picked up another. He looked completely disinterested. "I'm sure your mother thinks so. Pick an item if you want it."

Ace couldn't help himself. He snickered. Luffy did too; apparently he was paying attention after all.

Unfortunately, the noise drew the ire of Bastard, as Ace had mentally dubbed him.

"Who the hell are you two punks?" He growled, trying and utterly failing to be menacing. Ace and Luffy completely ignored him as their amusement took a backseat to hunger once again. Much to their disappointment, however, Bastard was not satisfied with being ignored. "Hey, I'm talking to you, brat!"

Ace tried to ignore him, reminding himself that he'd gone almost a day without actually getting really mad and that Sabo had always told him that controlling his anger was the best thing he could do. He couldn't break his latest streak so soon.

"Don't ignore me!" Bastard yelled, slamming his hand into Ace's plate and sending it careening into Luffy's, resulting in both meals crashing onto the floor. The bartender paused in his cleaning, his expression unchanging but a dangerous light entering his eyes.

The silence in the bar was deafening. Everyone there knew who Ace and Luffy were; they knew that the two kids, despite their age, were not to be messed with under any circumstances at the risk of being on the receiving end of a severe ass kicking.

Ace blinked, staring at where his food had been. Luffy was also still, though after a moment he extended one arm to the pile of food on the floor and retrieved some of the meat. He offered one leg to Ace, who gratefully grabbed it and began chewing on it after setting his utensils down.

He tried. Sabo would recognize that, right?

Once he'd polished off the meat—ignoring the steadily rising anger from Bastard—Ace finally acknowledged the man by turning and giving him the most dead-eyed glare he was capable of. Coupled with his empty smile, the glare created a fairly terrifying expression. All Ace had to do to complete it was recall his fury at the mere _mention_ of the name Gol D. Roger, which he did in a heartbeat.

Bastard pretended to be unfazed but Ace didn't miss the way his eyes darted to the exit, to the other patrons that had been gradually inching away from the bar area, to the bartender that was still polishing his glassware. He had cronies dotted around the bar, Ace pick out their sickening expressions within moments, but they were stupid and unimportant so Ace ignored them for now.

Swallowing the last of his food, Ace began toying with the picked-clean bone in his hands while never breaking eye contact. "What the hell do you want?"

"My damn food, brat," the idiot spat. "Stop looking so smug you little prick. You were just being annoying."

"Really?" Ace drawled, running a nail down the side of the bone and then tapping the place where he stopped. "I don't remember doing a damn thing, actually."

"You laughed."

Ace kept tapping, tension building in his muscles. Off to the side, Luffy was still eating, but he was watching the entire confrontation with an intensity normally not found on his youthful face.

"So I did. You got a problem with that?"

"'Course I do. You shouldn't laugh at your betters!"

Ace finally stopped tapping and pinched the bone between two fingers as he broke eye contact and focused on the small white mass in his hands. "My betters, huh?" He repeated lowly.

"Yeah!" Evidently convinced that Ace had gotten the point, Bastard turned back to the bartender. "Where's my fucking food, already?"

The bartender blinked, as unflappable as ever. "You never ordered anything."

Bastard tensed in anger and then lunged over the bar, grabbing the bartender by his collar and pulling him close. "Listen here, you arrogant jackass," he growled, "I want my food. If you honestly can't remember me, then maybe I'll just loot this place and burn my name into your memory! Ha! I'll burn this place to the ground!"

The bone in Ace's fingers snapped in half with a sound like a gunshot. Startled, the man released his grip on the bartender and looked back at Ace, whose eyes were shadowed by his wavy black hair. Even Luffy had stopped eating, _his_ expression hidden by his oversized straw hat.

"What did you just say?" Ace asked softly, his entire body still but humming with energy. Those still in the room began to creep towards the exit. "Say it again. I didn't quite catch it."

The man scoffed, confident that the creepy kid was just being weird. "I said I was gonna burn this worthless place to the ground. Don't you know who I am, kid? My dad's a noble and my friends and I practically own this section of town."

"Since when?"

"Since three days ago."

Ace felt a small flare of understanding. He and Luffy had been pretty busy the past few days and hadn't really hung around Edge Town, which explained why they hadn't heard about this asshole yet. Still, he had to learn a lesson. Not necessarily for just being a prick in general; Ace couldn't give two shits about that. No, this guy had threatened the bartender and everyone in the restaurant, the first of which was the nicest guy Ace had never really gotten to know and the former of which were people that Ace had worked with before to cause special mayhem around High Town (he couldn't do mass graffiti on his own, no matter how talented he was).

"Three days ago." Ace's tone rang hollow.

"Yes. You dumb or somethin'?" The man's eyes shifted to Luffy. "And who's this idiot? He hadn't even said a word. Hey, you stupid too? Two idiot brothers or somethin'?"

Ace's anger reached new heights, going from a burning rage to something icy in an instant. Moving with incredible composure, Ace put the broken bone on the bar and then turned to face the man fully, simultaneously drawing his attention away from Luffy.

And then he punched the guy in the stomach. The action was so sudden, so unexpected, that the bastard had no time to brace himself and he was knocked back, the breath leaving him in a gasp as he crashed into a nearby table, almost breaking it. Ace grinned savagely, inwardly pleased that his training was going so well. Two years ago he wouldn't have been able to throw such a strong punch from a position like that, but now he could send a grown man to the ground.

"Sorry," Ace said without a hint of regret and with such flatness that the bartender would have been proud. "My hand slipped."

"B-bastard!" Bastard gasped, scrambling to his feet. "Do you have any idea who you just punched?!"

"No. Don't care. Get the hell out of here and don't come back."

"Like hell I'll listen to a worthless piece of trash like you!"

This time, it was Luffy's fist that buried itself in the man's face before it catapulted him out the door. The limb snapped back into place with an audible noise in the following quiet. Ace turned his gaze on the cronies still lingering.

"Listen up, you idiots. The name's Ace. If you've got a problem, take it up with me."

None of them seemed too willing to take Ace up on his offer. One was even sweating. Ace could hear him whisper, "Wait, I know these kids. Monsters, they say. They practically run this place!"

They fled soon after. Once they left, a cheer erupted from the patrons for a few seconds before they went back to what they were doing before the man had barged into the bar. Ace and Luffy merely stood, their hunger mostly sated. They'd been eating for a while before that bastard had gone and knocked their food on the ground, anyway, and Luffy had already eaten anything still edible out of that mess.

"Sorry for the trouble," Ace said gruffly, remembering his manners lessons.

Oddly, there was the faintest glint of amusement in the bartender's eyes even as he set down his newly polished glass and picked up a third. "Don't mention it. Your meal's on the house."

Luffy grinned, punching the air and letting out a whoop of pleasure. Ace shot the bartender a measured look before grinning and accepting the reward. It wasn't his place to refuse, after all.

And he liked the bartender's food. It was good.

Even better when it was free.

Speaking of free food, there was a certain restaurant in High Town that was in desperate need of robbing. Ace had reliable information that the back door was unlocked and its food was supposed to be quite good.

Luffy was already grinning—or still grinning—as though he anticipated Ace's thoughts.

Today was proving to be a good day.

* * *

 **Saturday**

* * *

Saturday was their unofficial exploration day. Sunday was their _official_ exploration day, though even then they couldn't really call it official. They were kids. Nothing was official.

So Luffy and Ace were in the Gray Terminal, carefully venturing the piles of trash that the nobles had been throwing out probably for as long as Goa Kingdom had existed.

As Ace had dubbed them time and time again: assholes.

But there was sometimes some cool junk to be found. Ace had a good feeling about today. There was something in the air. He couldn't explain it, but a nagging sense that he was going to find _something_ today persisted in the back of his mind even though he'd gone a month straight without finding anything that he really cared about.

Luffy, on the other hand, had been finding things at a rate that had Ace half-convinced the kid was part metal detector. Luffy had found lots of jewelry (which had sold for a pretty nice amount of money in Edge Town), a few knickknacks that fit perfectly in their old tree house, and even a telescope, which now sat proudly in one of the windows of the tree house. Even though Luffy and Ace didn't go up there much anymore—it hurt too much—the telescope just felt right.

Ace hopped over a large divide between two large piles of trash, eyeing the deep trench between as he passed over it. Landing with a controlled roll, Ace got back to his feet and surveyed the nearby piles of trash. Bland colors met his eyes; nothing stood out from the monotonous color scheme of broken blues and grays and browns. Lips twisting into a scowl, Ace walked forward, pipe resting over one shoulder while he continued his search. Luffy was somewhere nearby, and Ace was confident that his brother could handle himself at this point.

Just before he was going to move on to a different section of the Gray Terminal, a flash of orange caught Ace's attention. With his curiosity rising thanks to the break in color, Ace jogged over to where he thought he'd seen the orange object.

It took a minute of searching to find the thing again, but when he did find it, Ace let a small, satisfied smile cover his face, an expression he didn't wear often.

That orange thing was a hat. A glorious, brilliant, incredible orange hat. Ace pulled it from the pile of garbage without hesitation, noting that it was in remarkably good condition. He checked it over, noting with no surprise that there was no indication of where it had come from. Well, he didn't really care. It was an awesome hat and he wanted it. Examining it even more, Ace noted the two blue smileys on it, one smiling and the other frowning. They were connected to a red bead string that wrapped around the hat above the brim.

Ace grinned. It was perfect, made even better by the strings that connected the hat to a pendant will some kind of skull on it.

It was a little dirty, a little beat up, but Ace could fix it no problem. He picked it up and slung it over his neck, shifting it to accommodate his backpack, already filled with trinkets that Ace planned on toying with later, when he made it back to Dadan's.

"Ace! Check out what I found!"

The elder brother kept a neutral expression as Luffy came careening over a nearby pile of trash, rolling down it with all the grace of a drunk bull before crashing to a stop at Ace's feet. Luffy jumped to his feet immediately, completely unfazed, and held up his discovery.

A dagger. With a sheath.

"Looks expensive," Ace noted. Luffy nodded.

"I'm gonna keep it."

The determination in Luffy's words caught Ace by surprise, but he grinned and nodded. "Do what you want, Luffy."

The younger boy just grinned.

Once the duo was sure that they had pillaged all they could from the Gray Terminal for that day, they began trekking back to the mountain hideout. Luffy kept up a steady stream of small talk, reviewing everything they did that week and putting up suggestion after suggestion for what they could do the next week. When they finally made it back, Ace ruffled Luffy's hair affectionately and collapsed on his bed. Luffy panicked for a minute before realizing that Ace's narcolepsy had struck again.

Luffy stood there for a minute, fidgeting, before realizing that Ace wasn't going to wake up for a while yet. With a grin, the younger boy undid the knot in his impromptu cloth knapsack and pulled out the sheathed dagger. Staring at it contemplatively for a second, Luffy wondered what he should do with it. Then he looked at Ace. And back to the dagger. And at Ace. And at the dagger.

A light flashed in Luffy's eyes and he jogged out of the room, seeking Dadan. Finding her, Luffy made his request, and though Dadan was dubious as best, she helped him sharpen and clean the dagger so that it was ready for use. Thanking her sincerely for probably the first time in his life, Luffy practically skipped back to the room and rummaged around in the pile of junk he'd collected again. Soon, he found the brightly colored bag he'd noticed before and stuffed the dagger and sheath inside, covering it with a messy assemblage of paper and tissue he'd found. Then he hid the thing under a loose floorboard he'd discovered a few months back—and saved for just such a purpose—and put everything back the way it should be.

When Ace woke up, he noticed immediately that Luffy was practically glowing with happiness. Blearily, Ace took in his surroundings, breathing a nearly inaudible sigh of relief when he realized that everything appeared to be fine. No one was screaming, at least.

"What is it, Luffy?" Ace asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes while letting out a massive yawn.

"Nothin'," Luffy replied evasively, doing a terrible job of lying that had Ace raising an eyebrow. Tired as he was, Ace felt no need to press the issue.

"Whatever."

* * *

 **A Few Weeks Later**

* * *

"ACE!"

The older brother groaned, holding his head from the sudden loud noise so early in the morning. Luffy came crashing through the door, a ball of exuberance and energy that Ace had yet to grow entirely used to even with all the time they had spent together.

"Luffy?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"Birthday? It's my birthday?" Ace paused, thinking. "Oh. I guess it is."

"I GOT YOU A PRESENT!"

"A present? Uh, thanks? I don't really—"

"HERE YOU GO!" Luffy declared, shoving a bag into Ace's arms that he had pried from underneath a floorboard that Ace had noticed was suspiciously creaky.

"Thanks?" Ace said, not entirely sure what to make of the whole situation. His brain was still demanding two hours of sleep and his body was saying that he'd already slept too much. He just wasn't a morning person and never had been.

"OPEN IT OPEN IT OPEN IT!"

"Yeah, yeah. Stop shouting. It's too early." Ace's gaze softened when he saw the excitement in his little brother's eyes. It was pretty damn infectious, even though the sun had yet to fully rise over the horizon. Was Luffy _this_ excited about Ace's sixteenth birthday?

Testing the weight of the bag first—moderately heavy—Ace then pulled out all the ratty and dirty paper that covered up the real contents of the bag, placing it off to one side. When his eyes landed on the object buried beneath, they widened considerably.

"Luffy, isn't this the dagger you found a while ago?"

"Yep! I want you to have it!"

Ace was speechless. A gift? He never got gifts. But Luffy was just _giving_ him this. "A-are you sure?" Did he just _stutter_? He never stuttered!

"Mhm!"

And then Ace noticed the slight anxiety in the way Luffy was leaning forward, nearly hidden by the sparkle in his eyes but there all the same. Luffy was worried that Ace wouldn't like the present. Realizing that, Ace let out the best grin he could manage.

"Thanks, Luffy. I'll always keep it with me."

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered, his smile brighter than the first lances of sunlight piercing the window curtains.

END

* * *

 _A/N My personal favorite day is Friday. I really liked writing that bartender, honestly. What about you guys?_

 _-RoR_

 ** _Please review._**


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